The Backstreet Suitcase Repair Shop

Riga’s a beautiful city known for its art nouveau architecture. Today however I’m tearing through it, following google maps to a shop that might just be able to fix my broken suitcase.

After spending the morning pulling the case apart in every way I can (Swiss Army knife strikes again) and reassembling it, I realise I’ve got two options; find someone who can fix it, or buy a new one but that’ll be a hefty blow to my budget and one I’d rather avoid. Google tells me there’s somewhere that specialises in luggage repair- amazing.

Google announces I’m there, and I find myself in front of a metal gate leading to an alley way. I about turn and check the other side of the street incase I’m in the wrong place. Nope. Examining the metal gate I spot a tiny sign with the shop name on the wall behind. I look at google again and realise the shop name has the entry code at the end. Through the metal gate, I follow the alley way until I spot a green residential looking door with the shop name and a picture of a suitcase. Either we’re in business or this is how they lure in their victims. I start to wonder if Luggage Repair Shops are even a thing… I press the buzzer and the door opens. I walk down the corridor and open the next door with a picture of luggage on it to find a tiny little room filled from floor to ceiling with cases and an old man with long hair sat behind a small desk in the middle. There’s barely enough room to walk in but I manage and the old guy shouts on ‘Nikki’. A younger, towering, rather fed up seeming guy with what I think is a Russian accent appears and asks what they can do. I explain and he tells me he’s not sure if they can fix it. I ask when they’ll know by and he asks when I need it for. I explain I leave by bus tomorrow. ‘Ok, we tell you tomorrow’…. Eh no, I leave early I need to know today so I can buy a new one if not.’ He huffs. ‘ehhh, okay, leave here. Maybe we can fix it maybe not.’

As I make my way down the alleyway, a suitcase lighter, I realise there’s a very good chance I might never see it again… time will tell.

In the meantime I head to the Museum of Occupation which tells the history of Latvia’s time in the hands of the Soviets and the Nazis. The people of the Baltic States suffered brutally under the Russian regime who subjugated, conscripted, and deported the Baltic peoples to work camps in Siberia. They ruled by fear with the KGB ensuring that no one stepped out of line otherwise they’d be tortured, killed or disappeared. The Russian occupation was so bad that when the Germans arrived they were welcomed with open arms only for the Baltic nations to find themselves thrust into Nazi rule. The Nazis blamed the actions of the Russians and the KGB on the Jewish people and then continued to subjugate, conscript and deport people, this time to concentration camps rather than work camps. When the Russians came back, people thought they’d be liberated from the Nazis however it was Russian rule 2.0 under the Soviet Union and this time with even harsher and more sinister methods as the Soviets viewed the Baltics as having favoured and collaborated with the Nazis.

The museum is an excellent insight into an extremely harrowing subject and gives you an idea of what the Baltics went through under occupation which only came to an end in the early 90s. There’s even an attempt to make the exhibit more interactive to keep kids occupied as they follow the story of Mikka, a rather sad looking teddy. However given the fact that the words ‘don’t cry, Mikka will be okay’ feature at one point, I’m not entirely sure it’s quite the right subject matter for a kid’s adaptation…

At 4pm sharp I get a phone call. A Russian accent on the other end. ‘Suitcase is fixed’. And we’re in business.

The next morning there’s a festival in the town square to celebrate harvest and the Autumn equinox. After a potter around the market, I roll my suitcase down to the station. Nikki managed to bust it open and remove the sticky pin that had blocked it so it’s now a pin short but working. It’s only then that it dawns on me that I’ve actually paid to have my suitcase ‘professionally broken’. Oh well… as long as it makes it through another 4 countries, I can worry about it later 🙈Read more